What font to use?

Okay, I'm not exactly sure what section this should be in, so I'm posting it here and if there is a better spot for it, that would be wonderful if a mod can move it. Thanks! :)

What font is the best to use on a music score? Do you have any preferences? Are there any that are more "professional"? I want to make my scores look more professional, and I'm wondering if there are fonts that are better than others. Thanks!

-Daniel

If you're referring to text fonts, stick very closely to Times/Times New Roman. You might be able to get away with a more artistic font for a title, but anywhere else on the page it's distracting. Times New Roman is a publishing standard and looks professional - which is what you want.

As for music fonts, I can't help you, other than to say that the "Jazz" fonts that look handwritten look really unprofessional to most classical musicians.

I agree. But I think it's a good idea to use a different font for the title and play around with italics, font sizes etc. a bit. Nothing fancy, I personally prefer to keep it a very clear and simple font, but just something to make it look somewhat different. If you just go with Finale's standard layout for example, to everyone who knows the Finale look it immediately looks like "just another Finale file where the editor didn't think about the layout at all". Just some tiny changes in the title area make quite a difference.

And if you mean music fonts, like Flint I can't say much about that. To some degree the same thing applies though: Simply using a slightly different font can make your score look less "standard Finale/Sibelus/whatever". (This is of course less of an issue if you use a lesser-known software with a different standard font.) But when it comes to music fonts, it mostly comes down to making a sample in different fonts yourself and comparing them. Which are easier to read? Which are more "lively"? Which do you just like? Those are some things that are very hard to judge objectively.

But yeah, follow Flint's advice and don't pick anything fancy like "handwritten" computer fonts or anything like that. Go with something simple and easily readable.

One variant on Times New Roman I really like is Garamond. Great for an elegant style. But Times New Roman has been the standard for several decades.

This is all excellent advice, you couldn't ask for any better.

The only thing I might add is that clarity is the main focus of any publisher-quality score.

Examine some store-bought scores and see how you might go about imitating the house-style of that particular publisher.

For text indications in the score, avoid anything fancy, and make sure it is clear above all. Finale, for example, comes with a bunch of text expressions that are in italic. This is actually to be avoided. Use non-italicized fonts. If possible, sans-serif fonts as well.

Ther are numerous music fonts, none of which necessarily has an upper hand. It is all up to you. I find that the default font that comes with Finale is perfectly fine, with a few minor tweeks, like enlarging the notes a fraction, and thickening the staff lines minutely. Luckily, Finale allows this sort of change.

Thanks for all the answers!

Personally, I detest the Times typeface with a passion because it's overused and ugly compared to many alternatives. I'm actually learning all about typography as we speak, so I've got a few suggestions for you that'll keep things looking professional without looking like you paid no attention to your type.

Always pay attention to your type, by the way. The way text looks is almost as important as what it says - remember, we don't actually read words, we read pictures. The easier the pictures are on the eyes, the easier it is for our brains to make nice words out of them.

First off, your music font should likely just stick to the default. Finale comes with a couple of different "formal" fonts if I remember correctly, and either of them is fine. The differences are subtle enough that it may not make sense to worry too much about changing those. I agree with the folks above though in that you should tend to stay away from the Jazzy music fonts. They're hard to read and a little childish.

As for your text though, here are some alternate typefaces to consider besides Times (in no particular order):

-Cronos

-Minion (this one and above make for some absolutely gorgeous professional text - use Cronos for headlines and Minion for body copy and it'll look stellar)

-Avenir

-Myriad (this one is gorgeous for body text - FYI it's Apple's corporate font now, having replaced Garamond some years ago)

-Glasgow

-Charlotte (awesome for titles)

-Lisboa

-Warnock (really really pretty fonts; extremely elegant without being flashy)

-DF Dynasty (the extra light fonts in here are good, bold loses some of its appeal)

-Seravek

-Le Monde Courrier (another really nice one)

-Leitura (not overly remarkable except for the really cool serif effects)

-Optima (one of my personal favourites for writing)

Anyhow, I'll stop now but you get the point. I didn't link to any of those because most are free and if they're not pre-installed on your system, you can find them on the internet without too much hassle (Google is your friend). The point is that there are lots of alternatives to Times and you might be surprised by how much of a difference it makes to pay attention to what fonts you use when you write something, music or otherwise. Just a thought.

Good luck! :)

P.S. As an amusing aside on the topic of overused fonts, check out this guy's rant on "The Movie Font":

Trajan - The Movie Font

... the "Jazz" fonts that look handwritten look really unprofessional to most classical musicians.

To most jazz musicians as well. ;)

For text indications in the score, avoid anything fancy, and make sure it is clear above all. Finale, for example, comes with a bunch of text expressions that are in italic. This is actually to be avoided. Use non-italicized fonts. If possible, sans-serif fonts as well.

Gaaaahh!!! Why would you suggest Arial?!? *fumes silently on the topic of overused and ugly fonts*

There are alternatives (including in my list above) to Arial and Helvetica (which is a nice-ish typeface at least) that you might want to consider instead. Just as professional, if not more because it won't look like every other thing being printed...

Thank you for the very helpful answers!

Finale, for example, comes with a bunch of text expressions that are in italic. This is actually to be avoided. Use non-italicized fonts. If possible, sans-serif fonts as well.

According to whom/what?

I looked at scores by G.Henle, International, Dover, and others and guess what... they all use italicized fonts. Every single one of them.

According to whom/what?

I looked at scores by G.Henle, International, Dover, and others and guess what... they all use italicized fonts. Every single one of them.

well, I've been trying to find that specific reference, and please excuse me, I haven't found it yet.

so put on the back burner the "no italics" statement, at least until I can find either for or against where this is mentionned.

Hmm this is a bit of a strange 'argument' - maybe there's some confusion here. All publishers, as far as I'm aware - henle, baerenreiter, schott, peters etc. follow this basic code:

Use serif fonts for everything. Times New Roman is the basic standard, but if you've got a good eye you'll notice that many publishers have their own in-house serif font - and if you're looking for ones that are appealing but clear, a lot of the adobe ones are very good (minion, jenson, garamond etc.) but obviously expensive. Times is fine, schott use it. Once you've chosen one, stick to it.

Always use italics for instructions related to expression, (e.g. 'espressivo', 'ben legato', 'con forza', 'zart' etc.). Example on henle site. Cresc. dim. etc. fit into this category.

However, certain expressive abbreviations, such as 'p' and 'f', 'mf' must be given in a 'music font'. Again if you look at any score you should notice the difference between this font and the other italic expressions. The main reason behind this is readability - musicians will automatically recognise text in a music font and know what it's used for. All notation programs come with this already set up - in sibelius it's called opus, and finale - maestro I believe.

For tempo indications use the serif font again but in large non-italic text. This is usually bolded also. Samples by Baerenreiter (look at the 'Allegro Aperto' on the third page).

For instructions that refer to more practical aspects of playing - performance 'techniques' or instructions for example for doubling players to switch instruments, use non-italic, non-bold text, usually above the staff. Sample by Schott.

Sans-serif fonts are very rarely used. Just in the same way that they are very rarely used in any kind of typesetting at all - newspapers, books etc. they all use serif fonts. This has been standard since the event of the printing press.

I've seen all sorts of weird fonts and stuff in all sorts of modern pieces/etc.. So I'd say whatever is readable works just fine in the end. Look up Marius' font suggestions there, they're great!

If you shoot for a "publisher-like" thing, you can just copy whatever any specific publisher uses. Grab a score and see how they do the text and just mimic it. Not too hard, right?